


May We Meet Again

by Mweir1990



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Ancient History, Buffy the Vampire Slayer References, Dracula Influence/References, F/F, F/M, Reincarnation, Romanians Bad, True Blood References, Volturi Good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26462545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mweir1990/pseuds/Mweir1990
Summary: Lilith is the first of her kind; the first vampire. She roams the Earth for hundreds of years before meeting a brother and sister pair that changes her existence forever. Its a Bellice story but there are several characters that make their appearance first. There is a lot of different vampire lore in this story and I hope that it is received well. Reincarnation is a factor in this as well. A lot of Buffy, Dracula, and True Blood refences in here so there's something for everyone.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Bella Swan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. The First

Long ago when the Earth was new, one lonely soul walked the land. She had long flowing dark hair, pale perfect skin, and eyes as bright as the sun. For years she wandered aimlessly with no destination in her mind. The ground was hot and hard on her feet, but she didn’t feel discomfort. She didn’t eat, but felt no hunger. At least she didn’t feel hunger in her stomach. When she was hungry, her throat burned like the hot sandy desert. She scratched at the column of her neck trying to find relief, anything to make the burning stop. You would think that with the incessant digging at her skin, that it would break. It would leave some kind of mark on the beautiful pale flesh; but this was not the case. Nothing to pierce her skin for she had tried everything once before. She took a sharp stone and tried to stab the heart inside of her chest. She listened for the organ day in and day out, but there was no sound. No beat under her hand when she tried to feel it. There was nothing but cold, hard skin.

As she wandered, the woman came across a body of water. She ran over to it and drank greedily, but once the liquid hit her lips, she spat it out like it was the most disgusting thing in the world. Moments later, a large elk crossed her path for a drink of the same water. That's when her throat burned again. She cried out from the pain and the burning, scratching at her throat once again. That’s when she heard the heartbeat of the animal across from her. Large red tears came down her face from the pain. When she touched her face, her fingers came back a grizzly ruby. It scared her to see this sight and wished it gone, but every wish and every thought left her mind as the heartbeat within the elk kept beating and beating.

She looked in the water and saw her bright golden eyes, now a dark black.

The elk across the lake looked at the woman and tilted its head to the side in curiosity, for he had never seen a being like this before. Not only did it walk on two legs, but it had nothing on its body. Nothing to keep it warm from the cold, or dry from the rain. The elk went over to her and sniffed her skin. The woman then petted the side of his neck lovingly. She touched her forehead to the animals and relayed a silent plea of forgiveness; but she was so hungry and the heartbeat inside of the animals' chest was like a hypnotizing melody.

She felt like it was the only thing to make the burning stop.

With a strength she had no memory of possessing, the person took down the elk. She laid it on its side and as her teeth extended to a point, she watched as the fear in his eyes became palpable. It's breathing became shallow and heavy. She could feel his fear as if it were her own. As gently as she could, she brought her mouth to the thick hide of the animal and bit down. She drank from the elk and the heartbeat within it slowed almost to a halt.

The burning in her throat had stopped.

Amazed with this realization, she released her hold on the elk and went back over to the river to look into its depths. Her eyes were the same bright gold it had been before. She sighed in relief and then went back over to the sleeping animal. It's eyes were closed and she thought it was dead. But after a while of searching for a heartbeat, she found one. Smiling, she put her hand on the side of his neck and walked away from the scene.

Not many people know this, but this is the story of the first vampire. This is the story of Lilith. She would be the one to watch over this world. Her name would be legend, but her children and grandchildren will be tested like none other before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lilith's journey will be a long one and this is just the start.

For centuries, Lilith wandered alone. She saw the descendants of Adam and Eve take their first steps. Cain and Abel were fine boys but there was something about the older twin that gave the woman pause. The two boys created their own kin and grew old. Their children had ones of their own and their families grew fat and happy. Lilith cried giant blood red tears as the elder Cain raised the axe to his brother, murdering him. She was too late to save Abel but avenged his death by drinking the blood of his killer.

Lilith drained Cain dry and for the first time, she sampled human blood. It was a sweet ambrosia that sent her into a drunken state lasting for days. For a time, her bright gold eyes were tainted red like the human blood she drank, like the tears she cried in sadness. Lilith saw the pain she had brought to the humans as she hunted them time and time again. For years this lasted, entire cities massacred by one woman overcome with bloodlust.

It wasn’t until she killed a child to drink their blood that she snapped out of her killing spree. When the heartbeat drifted away, the beauty unleashed her fangs from the soft neck of the eight year old girl. Her red eyes widened as she looked into the dead blue eyes of her prey. Lilith looked upon the dead child in her arms and began to cry. Angry blood red streaks made their way down her face as she screamed toward the sky. For the first time in her long existence, Lilith wondered why she was here; she wondered why she alone would suffer the fate of drinking and feasting on only blood.

For years she kept away from the human populace. Lilith hid in caves, trying to find ways to end her own life. To end her own suffering. She tried stabbing herself in the chest, but remembered the first time she tried to do that. The stone only shattered in her hand. Maybe something made of a metal known as iron would do the trick. She retrieved a weapon from the village where she had killed her last victim. Amongst the light of the fire, she stabbed herself in the chest. The hilt was the only thing that remained. In her anger, she threw the broken sword to the side and wrapped her arms around her knees.

She thought of other ways after that. If an outside force didn’t work against her, than maybe her own body would.

Lilith went without blood, animal blood, for months. She became delirious. Hearing the voices of her victims in her head. The little girl that she murdered often plagued her thoughts. Lilith could literally see her in front of her. The tiny bright blue eyes staring at her with the look of why plastered all over her face. She threw a flaming log at the ghost but even once it disappeared, she found no peace.

Then, one day, as if by some miracle, an elk passed by. It was a rainy day and the animal was looking for shelter. Finding the cave that Lilith made her own, he entered and laid on the moist ground. He rested his chin on the ends of his feet and fell asleep. Lilith watched with wide eyes as the animal felt some sort of kinship with her. At least enough to lay down and nap with her. She looked upon the animal with her dull eyes. Dark circles encased her once beautiful eyes. Once she took in the sight of the animal, she found that the fur around his muzzle was very grey. This elk was old, older than any she had seen before.

Lilith listened to the heartbeat and found it slow and heavy.

_"It's dying."_ She thought as she continued to take in the sight of the animal.

The elk then opened its eyes and looked straight at Lilith. It was as if she was silently communicating with him. His large antlers were cracked and chipped from his many years on this earth. Lilith looked in surprise. She had lived for many a year as well but never aged. She was the same as she had been when she looked in the lake that fateful day.

_"Live_." Lilith heard the word echo in her ears but it was not her voice.

It was deep and gruff. Soothing yet in pain. The elk was actually speaking to her. How was this possible? For the years she wandered, she had never heard of this before. No other animal made it's voice known to her. So why now?

Lilith moved over toward the large beast and pet the thick hide on its back. She looked into the fire for a few moments thinking about her next decision. It would be a step back for the vampire as far as her diet was concerned. The human blood had been so delicious, like a fine wine or ale. But she was not a monster. Lilith wanted to be around people so that they would keep her grounded. They would keep her, in a sense, human. She leaned on the large elk for a long while before finally making her decision. She nodded once, twice, and turned toward the shallow breathing animal.

Once more the two pairs of eyes met. The dark brown met dull coral.

Lilith opened her mouth and her fangs extended and plunged them deep into the neck in front of her. There was a sound of slight discomfort but then the animal relaxed and let the sensation take over him. The vampire's ears twitched as she listened to the slowing heartbeat. A few moments passed as she drank from him. The beating in her ears sounded like drums, but slowed to the point of stopping. Silence echoed in her ears as the animal died in her arms. No words, no sounds came from the elk as she looked at the body. Lilith wiped her lips to retrieve any excess. 

With a renewed sense of purpose, Lilith got up from her spot next to the animal's body and took one last look before walking again.

___________________________________

It wasn’t until 1300 B.C. that Lilith found a permanent residence among humans again. The Grecian city of Thebes was where she rested her head and hunted her prey. Lynx had become her favorite source of blood when she hunted at night. The lithe cats gave her a challenge. She didn’t use her enhanced speed on the felines, but she matched their agility and grace.

It was on a night such as this that she heard screams coming from a small house outside the city. Usually Lilith kept to herself, not really dealing with the affairs of humans. She hunted the cats for their blood and sold their bones, pelts, and meat for coin. It was a living she supposed. This night however would change her life forever. She sped over to the house where the screams were coming from and found a couple of bandits raiding the home for any valuables. One bandit had his sword plunged in the stomach of an older man while another bandit stood over the corpse of a woman. By the smell of her she had been dead for only a few minutes.

Lilith heard the crying of a child underneath the floorboards of the hovel. The bandit that killed the father of the boy slid his sword out of the man's stomach and turned his attention on the newcomer.

"Well, well, well; what do we have here?" The fat unattractive brute asked as he sauntered up to Lilith; not knowing the brutality that he could receive at any given moment.

The other man who was standing over the mother's body turned to see what the commotion was. He was equally ugly and in fact was missing a few teeth. The two smelled like garbage and she had to resist the urge to cover her nose.

"That was actually going to be my question." Lilith said with confidence.

"Aren't you smug." The larger of the two said before bringing up his hand to slap the woman across the face.

His large hand struck her cheek, but it was like hitting a stone wall. In his shock, the man held his hand to his chest and screamed in pain. The little one decided to try and help his friend by unsheathing his sword and making a move to stab her in the stomach. Before the weapon could make contact, Lilith moved behind the bandit with her enhanced speed. Both bandits looked behind them and saw the beauty staring at them with an evil glint in her eye. Lilith then extended her fangs and hissed at the pair. They screamed and ran off into the distance; not caring for any loot that might have been in the house.

She heard a gurgled cough from where the father had been struck down. Lilith went over to the mortally wounded man and held his outstretched hand. It was shaking and covered in blood, but she still held it none the less.

"I'm sorry I didn’t come sooner." Lilith said solemnly.

The man shook his head in understanding and as the blood began to fill his lungs he said.

"My children."

Her ears picked up the sound of three heartbeats. One was his, slow and giving out. The other two were fast and strong. She also heard the sound of their frightened whimpering. Lilith smiled and said.

"They're unharmed."

The older man smiled as best he could with the pain in his stomach and another round of wet coughs racked his body. Lilith could feel the man's pulse and heartbeat slow. It was a sad moment. This father would leave two children behind, but he would see his wife again in the afterlife; whatever that meant. Since she could not die, whatever came after was a mystery to her. The man looked to his now dead wife and reached out to her.

His trembling hand went limp moments later as his life left his body.

Lilith looked down at the ground for a moment and then got up from beside the dead father. She listened for the children's voices and when she reached a trap door, she pulled on the handle and saw a boy and a girl looking up at her with frightened eyes. The vampire crouched down and smiled kindly at them.

"What's happened to our parents?" The boy asked her as he held his little sister close.

She thought of an answer befitting such young children, but she couldn’t find any. The boy then put his chin to his chest and cried silently. The little girl was already sobbing so he didn’t want to add to her grief.

Lilith held out her hand to the two and said.

"I'm going to take you away from here."

The boy looked at the stranger warily. He wasn’t sure what to make of the bright golden eyed woman, but the more he looked into her eyes, the more he felt safe. With a shaking hand he reached for the pale one above him and gasped at the coldness of her skin. It felt like the desert outside. Why was she so cold. With his sister attached to his waist Lilith pulled the pair out of the hidden cellar and held each of them close so they wouldn’t see the corpses of their parents. It would only add to the shock. With her strength, carrying both children was a simple task as she exited the small house and went back home.

Her hunt now forgotten, she ran with the children in her arms and arrived at her small villa in no time. Their shaking bodies now sitting on soft plush pillows, Lilith got the two of them water. They drank it slowly as to not cough it back up in an instant.

"I am Lilith." The vampire introduced herself.

Putting down his cup, the boy replied.

"My name is Aro, and this is my sister Didyme."

The little girl Didyme was still shaking as she drank her water but politely did so anyway. Lilith took this time to look at both children more closely. Both of them had raven black hair and blue eyes. Didyme's eyes were brighter than Aro's; almost like the sky around the sun. it was a fascinating color. She listened to the heartbeats in their chests and found them to be strong. At least they were healthy. How would she care for them, she wondered briefly. Lilith had never cared for a human before. Was it like having a pet or something else?

The little girl, Didyme, looked at her then; her blue eyes pleading with her to not make her and her brother leave. She was scared and shaking, it hurt Lilith to see such a beautiful child in such a dire state. Once the children's cups were empty, she got up and took them into the kitchen. She leaned down and held onto the sides of the large water basin for what seemed like hours. Lilith looked at her reflection and wondered for a moment if she could really care for a child let alone two. She heard the whimpering cries of the small girl. Lilith wanted to make it stop, she would do anything to make it stop. The crying made the cavity in her chest hurt so much. Putting a chilled hand to her chest, she gripped her skin where she thought her heart might've laid before.

Lilith got a large blanket from her closet and placed it over the two children that had been through so much in such short a time. Didyme and Aro looked to her then and shot forward to hug her. The two children cried into her chest, not caring about the difference in their temperature. They didn’t care that she was cold, while they were warm. Lilith just held them, stroked their hair, and let them cry until they exhausted themselves.

____________________________________________

After that fateful night, Lilith raised the children as her own. She educated them on the ways of the world and spoiled them to no end. Aro became quite the hunter and provided for the small family. Didyme became quite beautiful in her adolescent years and had many suitors asking for her hand in marriage. Her brother was very protective of her though, and often turned down many of the men lined up at their door. As the children grew older, their mother did not. Many people around the village grew suspicious of her and thought of her to be a witch. So the three moved when Aro and Didyme were 18 years old. It was hard for the teens to leave their home, but over the years with Lilith, they found that home was where ever she was. Lilith was their mother in ever sense of the word.

She cared for them, raised them, taught them, spoiled them; they were a family.

Not long after the three moved from their house in Thebes, Aro was out on a hunting trip and came home with a ghastly wound. Coming in through the door, he was weak and bleeding from his abdomen. The boy leaned against the doorway and Lilith saw him first.

"Aro!" Lilith yelled, running to the young man immediately.

She then called out to his sister. Didyme came down the small flight of stairs to see her brother bleeding and weak. She gasped in worry and the two women carried him over to the chaise lounge not far from the doorway. Lilith could carry him on her own, but she knew that Didyme wanted to feel useful. Once the two gently placed Aro on the red cushion, Lilith ran to the well and got a bucket of water and a clean cloth to stop the bleeding.

Her daughter was kneeling at her brother's side and held onto his clammy hand. It was drenched in sweat and blood from his journey back, but she didn’t care. Aro was all Didyme had left besides Lilith. She couldn’t lose anymore family.

"What happened?" Didyme asked softly with tears in her eyes.

Aro chuckled.

"You should see the other guy."

Lilith came into the room with her bucket and cloth, and began taking off Aro's bloody shirt. She had to rip it down the middle and hoped that it wouldn’t cause him any discomfort. With a tiny grunt, he silently lamented the loss of one of his favorite shirts. It was dark blue and Lilith made it for him. Aro was sad to see it go.

"Now's not the time for one of your joke's, son." Lilith said as she began to soak the blood into the once white cloth.

She turned to her daughter and asked her to go get the bottle of wine from the shelf in the larder.

"Oh good, I could use a drink." Aro spoke again while letting out a laugh.

Didyme came back fast and pulled the cork from the bottle. Her mother told her to pour it onto Aro's wound. Hopefully the alcohol would clean the gash. Aro yelled and hissed at the sting the wine brought to his already painful abdomen. That damned boar, it wouldn’t go down without a fight and pierced him with a large sharp tusk. He didn’t want to tell his mother and sister about his blunder, so he stayed silent while they worked on stopping the bleeding.

"How is there so much blood?" Didyme said as she cried large tears.

The young woman hadn't seen so much blood in a long time. Not since her mother and father were murdered when she and Aro were children. The sight of it made her a little ill. It wasn’t until later that the two women got the blood to stop pouring out of the young man's abdomen. It was still a ghastly sight and Aro was bedridden for the time being. But unbeknownst to Didyme and Lilith, infection had set in a few days later.

Lilith could smell the rot and infection in her son's system. Didyme fussed over him day and night and did everything she could to make him comfortable. It was one of the tougher days when the young woman was feeding her brother some soup; it seemed to be the only thing he could keep down. Some of the liquid went down his throat the wrong way and a coughing fit soon followed. With his sweating forehead and sunken eyes, it wasn’t hard to tell that Aro didn’t have much time left on this earth.

The man sat up as he coughed and coughed, feeling the light pat on his back from his sister. The bright blue eyes before him were filled with worry and sadness.

"Mother." Aro whispered out into the room.

Lilith came to him in a flash and kneeled beside Didyme at his bedside. She took his warm clammy hand and kissed his pale knuckles. They were jaundice from the infection coursing through his body, but she didn’t care. This was her boy, her son. The little one she had raised from the time he was a small child.

The memory of their first meeting rang through her mind.

"I don’t want to leave you." He whispered looking into sad golden eyes.

Not trusting her voice, Lilith shook her head in agreement, but didn’t know how to keep her boy here. She didn’t want Didyme to be alone in this world. Without her brother she would be lost. Lilith looked to her younger daughter and held out her free hand. None of her children cared about the chill of her skin nor did they care about her unconventional feeding habits.

She listened to each of their heartbeats. One was slowly fading while the other was strong and vibrant. Something filled her mouth then, something akin to saliva, but it tasted sour. Looking down at the pulse point in Aro's neck, she came up with an idea. It wasn’t going to be pleasant, but it seemed the only thing to do.

She let go of Didyme's hand and her fangs extended past her lips. Taking a deep calming breath through her nose, Lilith looked once again at the pulsing vain. It was calling to her like a siren song.

"Stay strong, my son." Lilith spoke before plunging her teeth into Aro's neck.

The ancient one heard the scream of her daughter but stayed true to her objective. The blood was good, but the tang of the infection overpowered the taste. She only took a few pulls before injecting her own venom into his skin.

A couple more seconds of the feeding and Lilith pulled back to sit once more next to Didyme. The girl beside her looked at her strangely, but made to move to reprimand her. She looked as if she knew what she was doing. Aro also looked at her, confused at what she had done to him, he even moved to cover the spot on his neck where she had bitten him.

"I don’t know what's going to happen now, but we shall see soon enough."

A few days passed after Aro had gone through the bite and it was as if hell fire had swallowed him whole. A burning came over him and death almost seemed preferable. Didyme was fawning over him again constantly putting a nice cold cloth over his baking skin. Aro was shaking and sweating.

Lilith came into the room with some food to see if the man would keep anything down in his stomach. It was to no avail and Aro pushed the plate away. His fever wasn’t going down and his heart beat faster and faster until it slowed. Neither Lilith nor Didyme knew what was going on, the elder vampire had never bitten a human out of love before, it had been to sate her unquenchable thirst; but when he came to her with that horrible gash in his stomach, instinct had taken over. It was as if her body and mind knew what to do before her heart did.

So as the two women watched him breath his last, tears welled in the humans' eyes. They fell to the ground in a wet puddle. The quiet splash on the ground was silent to Aro's sister, but deafening to Lilith. Her golden eyes filled with the dark red mixture and fell down her cheeks in a angry mark. It was a slow and painful process for the vampire but one that felt inevitable.

After a few moments of grief, Lilith had pulled a white sheet from another room and placed it over her sons still warm body. She strained her ears to hear his heartbeat, but there was none left. Lilith placed the white fabric over Aro's seemingly sleeping face and he looked so peaceful. His skin was pale and his eyes were shut to the world. His body was still warm to the touch and his long black hair formed a halo around his head on the pillow beneath him.

For years Lilith had watched her children sleep. The mother stared in wonder at the little bodies in their beds wondering why sleep evaded her but came so naturally for them. It looked like her son was sleeping, but the vampire knew better. Didyme was off in another room, crying loudly and Lilith's heart cried along with her daughter's, but they needed to make preparations for Aro's burial. They needed to make sure that he would be welcomed by the ferryman and that he could pay his way to the afterlife.

________________________________________________________________________

Days passed by and the two women just sat in the house in a fog. Aro's body was still there where he drew his last breath, but the logs for a pyre had been laid out. Now it was only the matter of carrying and placing him down on the bed of wood. Didyme didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, didn’t speak. She seemed as lifeless as her brother, but a least Lilith could hear her heartbeat. That seemed to be a good sign.

Then, out of nowhere, Aro's finger's began to move. Lilith saw this out of the corner of her eye, she could hear the rustling of the sheet she had placed over him. Looking over to the bed, Lilith and Didyme both watched as their son and brother rose up from his place on the bed. Didyme ran to her brother and knelt in front of him. Touching the man's face and hands she noticed that his skin felt like ice.

The feeling of warm skin against his own prompted Aro's eyes to open once again. They weren't the pleasant bright shade of blue anymore however, they were the dark red ones of a newborn vampire. Smelling the scent of fresh blood before him and hearing the erratic beating of a human heart, his teeth began to extend and his eyes grew dark in hunger.

As if watching in slow motion, Lilith couldn’t get to her son in time before he bit down into his sister's neck. The sound of Didyme screaming in pain put the elder vampire into overdrive. She wrenched her boy away from his beloved younger sister and pushed him far away as she attended to the bleeding sight before her. Lilith bunched up the sheet that had previously lay over Aro and pushed it to her daughter's neck.

"Hold on darling, you're going to be fine." She cried giant red and goopy tears once more as her other child's blood stained the once white shroud.

It wasn’t long before Didyme lost consciousness from the shock and her heartbeat slowed to a stop. Why was this happening? Lilith thought. Was this her doing? Was Aro now a vampire like herself? Would Didyme become one next since Aro had bitten into her?

As if waking up from a fog, Aro groggily got up from where he had been pushed and saw his mother leaning over his sister.

"Didyme!" Aro yelled as he ran over to the scene.

Lilith was on guard as her son came over then. There were so many questions in her mind and no doubt her son would have many as well, but now was the time for action. The elder vampire picked up her other child and placed her on the bed behind her. Holding the once warm hand, she could feel the pulse weaken, the quicken once more, then it stopped completely. The two vampires worried over the only other human in the room and waited for what would come next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lilith changed Aro and Aro changed Didyme. This chapter was a cycle in a way and the next one will kind of speed things along. Didyme will be alive in this story because I love her gift and will use it throughout this tale. There's going to be a lot of mention of the Romanian coven in the next chapter but after that, Alice and Bella will begin to appear.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter that has mostly to do with Sulpicia and Aro, but before that there's a little AU Vladimir that I wanted to cover first.

Since the unfortunate accident that changed Didyme into a vampire, Lilith trained both of her children on how to feed from animals. She taught them how to use their strength and speed to help others, but they never stayed in one place for too long. Humans would begin to suspect that they were unearthly creatures and would turn on them. So the secret of vampires actually existing was kept. 

Traveling alone for more than a century, it got rather lonely for the still rather young vampires. Forever in a state of youth, Aro and Didyme wanted more out of this life than secrecy. Lilith could understand their thinking and when they came to Southwest Romania, which was an area known as Dacia, all three of them were happy to find other signs of life. Humans roamed the area and they were happy. Trading cattle, fabrics and other goods, Didyme went all around the market gazing at the wonders there. 

Aro smiled at his sisters' youthful vigor and walked alongside his mother. They had many onlookers as they passed. Such beautiful people with dark hair and shining gold eyes. Men came from behind their stalls to offer goods for free to the gorgeous brunette and her family. Some offered their company as well to Lilith and Didyme. Aro was the first to step in and decline. He was always so protective of them. Now that he was a vampire, he could properly defend them from any threat. 

Walking along, Didyme talked adamantly about staying in the small quaint town. The three vampires looked around the area and found many areas where they could build a home of their own. They've built many houses and other buildings in their time, so it wouldn’t be hard. It all came down to what help they could procure from the humans here. 

When night fell, it was finally time do go hunting. Of course there was an abundancy of deer, which had become Didyme's favorite. There were also bears, wolves, and mountain goats that supplied the majority of their blood supply. All of them were well fed for a while before they needed to hunt again. 

In Romania, there were very few days when the sun would shine. Aro, his sister and mother were able to be among the populace and help with certain tasks in the area. This drew the attention of a man named Vladimir. He had pale blonde hair and skin. His eyes were blue and he had the slightest hint of stubble upon his chin. He watched the three newcomers for weeks as they helped countless people repair, build, and care for the children. The younger brunette of the three seemed to be versed in the healing ways, while the older brunette male and female would do repairs and build to improve the villagers lives. 

A smaller blonde girl always hung around by his ankles. She tugged on his pants and looked into his eyes wondering what he was staring at. Every time she asked the question he would shrug it off and answered with a typical, 'nothing' before bringing his little sister home to their mother. 

About a couple of months passed by as Lilith and her children gained the trust and the confidence of the villagers around them. The vampires had convinced their friends and neighbors to help them build a large fortress. Most of the heavy lifting was done by Aro and some of the village men, just to keep up appearances. As the three of them worked through the night however, Lilith and Didyme also picked up the heavy bricks and stones to construct while the humans slept. 

Over the passing weeks, a large structure rose from the ground. A human man wiped the sweat from his brow as he surveyed his and his friends work. A cold hand clapped him on the shoulder and when he turned to face Aro, a large gleaming smile met his gaze. 

"Well done, my friend." Aro said in his smooth Greek accent. 

Lilith and Didyme stood beside him and looked at the large castle in wonder. Not only did the humans help in achieving such a marvel, but they really outdid themselves. A human man about the same age as Aro was when he was turned came upon them as well, just marveling at the skills that his people possessed. Vladimir had put forward the plans for the castle but he was weakly and couldn’t lift much. The blonde was the brains behind his neighbors brawn. 

"We really outdid ourselves, brother." Aro wrapped his arm around Vladimir's scrawny shoulders and brought him in for an embrace. 

Time had proved to be a wonderous thing for the blonde and his friend. He and Aro grew close during his time with the group. Aro often picked his brain and even told Vladimir that he was his intellectual equal. The blonde was shocked to say the least, but was glad to find someone to share his thoughts with, of the present and the future. 

Plague ravaged the village soon after the three vampires moved into their grand abode. Lilith and Didyme were saddened at the many deaths that came in a matter of a few nights. Both women tried their best to heal whomever needed it, but it was just not within their reach. Aro was angered by the revelation and wondered what would happen to his best friend in this time. 

Rushing to Vladimir's house, Aro smelled the stench of death strong in the air. Kicking the door in, the man saw the family of three gathered at the table. Two were face down in their dinner dishes, dead, with bile around their heads. Was it possible to drown in your own vomit? Aro wasn’t sure. His golden eyes flittered over the scene looking for Vladimir. When he found him, the blonde was over the water basin trying to cool his face from the fever. 

Aro could hear his friend gasping for air. Trying to filter it into his lungs, but as the man clutched his chest and heaved for oxygen, the vampire rushed forward and caught his friend before his body touched the ground. The bright blue eyes beneath him were sunken, and his once pale skin had taken a yellow shade to it. Aro could feel the blood of his tears fill his eyes. This was not the way that this was supposed to happen. 

"It's so cold." Vladimir stuttered out as he shivered in the vampires arms.

The bright golden eyes filled with the red liquid of his tears as Aro knew that his friend was dying. Was there something he could do about it? Surely he didn’t want to lose the only friend he had come to know in hundreds of years. Vladimir was the only human that could hold a conversation with him; the only one who could make him laugh with his dry and senseless humor. What was Aro going to do without him? That was a question that was never far from his mind, even when the man was healthy, but now it flew to the forefront of it. 

Aro turned his head toward the open door at the sound of footsteps. Looking at his mother, he silently begged her to help him. To ease the suffering of his friend. The vampire knew that his sister was out helping some of the other sick villagers in a makeshift clinic in their fortress, so Lilith had gone out to find him. 

"Please help him." His voice was rough trying to hold back his bloody sobs. 

The tears fell unbidden on his pale alabaster cheeks. The cold marble of his skin took the red tear tracks in stride however. Lilith knelt down beside her son and put a hand on his shoulder. She knew the connection he had with the young man, it wasn’t greater than the one he shared with Didyme, but it was strong. The ancient couldn’t bare to see any of her children sad, it broke her heart to do so. 

Looking around the small house, Lilith saw the other two bodies in the house. The mother and the daughter were dead, that much was certain. Some part of her wanted to have Vladimir move on, to be with his family in the afterlife. Her son however had different plans. Aro looked into her matching golden eyes and silently pleaded for his friends' life. Since he had been the one to change his sister, albeit by accident, Aro had never touched the blood of a human again. Thankfully the man had great control over his hunger. Lilith knew that if Vladimir was going to be turned into one of them, she would have to be the one to do it. 

Holding out her arms to take the architect from her son, she could feel every tremor, hear every slowing heartbeat. This plague took hundreds of people in the span of a few days. It was a horrible way to die. Vladimir should've lived a long and healthy life, grow old, find love, have children. Everything that a human was destined for. The only true exception were Didyme and Aro it seemed. 

Looking down at the blonde man, Lilith looked deep into his now dull blue eyes. His breathing became shallow and there wasn’t much time before he would succumb to the disease. 

"Do you wish to live?" She asked the dying man. 

The fact that Lilith had asked at all was strange. Most humans would beg for an opportunity such as this. To live eternally, fulfilling things that one could only dream of; but people who grew to their prime, who achieved what they wanted to, they would welcome death like a friend. 

Vladimir took the question and rolled it around in his chaotic mind. His mother and sister were face down in the dishes that held their meal. Here he was laying in the arms of his best friend's family member. The three people that had once been strangers to him, were still very secretive. Lilith looked as if he could be Aro's and Didyme's sister, or cousin, for she appeared to be the same age as them; but when she spoke, her voice seemed older, more tired than those of the sibling pair. 

He thought about their appearance; their golden eyes, their immense beauty, their ageless forms. It was all so confusing to him. Vladimir made it his mission to befriend the three, if only to gain some grain of knowledge that would lead him to the answer of his questions. None came of course, but as this woman held him in her arms, held his shivering body with a strength that seemed foreign to him, Vladimir heard the question presented to him. 

There was so much left to do; so many things to build, to discover. He couldn’t leave yet. He voiced his concerns to the woman above him.

"I can't go yet. There's still so much to do." That was his answer. 

The stutters wafted over the words, making them hard to comprehend to a human, but for a vampire his voice rang out clear as a bell. Lilith took his answer in stride. It seemed selfish almost, but she could understand his reasoning. 

Aro reached for Vladimir's pale clammy hand and held it in his own. 

"This will only hurt for while, brother; like so many things."

Blue eyes met the gold ones of his friend. Vladimir took one last look around the cabin he shared with his mother and sister. He looked at their dead bodies, crying a few tears at their loss, and finally nodded his head. 

The tiny prick of the sharp teeth in his neck was nothing compared to the pain he would feel afterwards.   
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Dacia had been a thing of the past when the plague ravaged what lives it could. No family was untouched by the sickness. So the vampires left. They made their mark on the small village and needed to move on before the surviving humans became more suspicious of their constant healthy state. 

Vladimir's transition to vampirism wasn’t the smoothest. Aro, Lilith, and Didyme all tried to train him in the subtle art of hunting animals. Deer, bear, wildcat, anything that the four could get their hands on was used to try and sway the man into feeding from animals and animals alone. There was a time, a long while, where they believed that the blonde had finally found his favorite blood in the wolves. 

They would soon find, that the blonde had become quite the monster in his immortal life. 

As the centuries flew by, the humans of the earth waged their own wars and battles with each other. Lilith and her children stayed out of most of them, but when the Turks and the other eastern European countries clashed for the reclamation of Jerusalem, there was little they could do. 

Aro, ever the brave man he had been in life, wanted to join the fray. Wanted to feel like a man again, wanted to fight with his countrymen. By this time, Lilith and the others had settled in the large country of France. They kept to themselves until the British marched through their lands. Aro began taking up a hobby in metal work to ease his mind of things he couldn’t control. He made horse shoes for the farmers, small tools for other workers, sometimes even jewelry for women across the land, but his real passion however was in weapon making. 

He crafted everything using the finest metals he could find. One handed short swords, heavy two handed great-swords, axes, hammers, daggers, shields, even plated armors. Aro found that he had grown to like blacksmithing. He kept at it for decades, perfecting his craft. The blacksmith's hammer and anvil were his best friends. Whenever Aro was bored or had a lot on his mind, he would go out to the forge. 

There were times when Vladimir would come out to look at what he was doing. The blonde often looked at the long weapons, spears and pikes seemed to peak his interest. He favored range over power, even with his superior strength. Twirling the weapon in his hand, Aro caught the glee on the blonde's face and let him have the weapon. It was sturdy enough not to wane under pressure yet light enough to not be too cumbersome. 

A young woman rode through the fields one day by the house jarring Aro from his work. The horses gallop was loud enough from a distance and it annoyed him quite a bit. Grumbling at the noise, Aro looked up at the duo that came upon his land. A fair haired woman in her late teens by the looks of her, a passionate look on her face as she rode expertly. Jumping over every fallen log or up turned root since they were not far from the French forests. She was so graceful in her movements and when she turned her head to face the man working at his forge, Aro gasped for breath. 

She had almond shaped eyes with the color of cocoa. Her skin looked so smooth and soft to the touch, the same as her hay colored hair. Aro could feel his eyes cloud with passion at seeing this girl. He salivated and his eyes widened at the taste of his own venom pooling in his mouth. Swallowing thickly, he went inside at a human pace waiting for the woman to pass. Closing the cabin door behind him, he leaned against it and put a hand to his chest. It was as if his heartbeat had returned to him. 

Didyme, who had been reading one of her favorite stories on old parchment, looked up at her brother all confused. His state made him look like he was in distress. Going over to him, the vampire asked.

"Are you alright brother?" 

"I'm not sure?" 

Thinking for a moment, Aro wondered where his mother was now. There was a possibility that she was out hunting with Vladimir, trying to once again get a handle on his hunger for human blood. There had to be something they could do, otherwise the blonde would become a monster. 

A knock at the door jarred the boy from his inner monologue. Aro jumped at the sound of it, not realizing that he was stuck in his own thoughts. Didyme opened the door just a touch to see who was there. Aro tried to make himself scarce as he once again looked into the brown eyes of the girl from before. She was heaving for breath, her chest bobbing up and down. Aro felt his eyes dilate. 

"I'm sorry for intruding on you, but I was wondering if that was your forge outside." The woman spoke and Aro could swear his knees turned to jelly. 

Didyme spoke for her brother however and affirmed the girls' suspicion. 

"My horse has lost a shoe while out for a ride. Can you help me replace it? I have a few coins to spare." 

After that fateful moment, Aro didn’t want to be a second away from the woman known as Sulpicia. Her parents had named her for a famous poet back before even his and Didyme's time. The vampire and human built a relationship within weeks of meeting. Often rendezvousing at night, Aro wooed her with flowers and metal works he made in his forge. Just the smile upon Sulipica's face was enough to keep him here on this earth. 

Talking with Lilith about their bond, the mother was happy to hear that her son had found someone to call his own. A soulmate, or mate as the vampire's came to know the word. Of course they would watch Vladimir around the woman just in case he had a lapse in his control. Aro and Sulpicia were married two whole years after and were happy. The vampire had told his mate about him and his family soon after and the blonde woman had no qualms about such news. She loved Aro for the man he was.

It wasn’t until he went away to war that the vampire family felt the loss of one of their own. Aro was conscripted to join the ranks of the soldiers heading to reclaim the middle eastern country. Vladimir was all to excited to follow his brother and made sure he had his favorite spear along for the ride. Not a single soul questioned the color of their eyes or the coldness of their skin, as long as they fought in their war. 

Before he left, Aro made a locket to wear around his neck and placed a lock of Sulpicia's hair inside of it. The two shared a passionate night together and it took everything in him to leave his marriage bed. Vladimir had his satchel packed and his spear at the ready the next cloudy day.   
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Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. The time that Aro and his brother were away brought a sense of coldness to the cabin that the three women now shared. Sulpicia never left the wooden house, hoping that one day her husband would return. She missed his golden eyes and smooth dark hair under her fingertips. Many of her friends that had husbands in the war were told of their demise at the hands of the heathens that warred against them. There were nights where the blonde would cry herself to sleep. When she woke to the sun shining through the window Lilith would be there watching over her, telling her that Aro was still alive and well, she had felt it. Sulpicia would smile and go about her day just like any other. 

There was one day in particular however that she felt the excruciating pain of her loneliness. Every movement she made, her mind was in a fog. Every word she spoke was laced with emptiness. Out for a walk, she came across one of the places she shared with her husband. It was a tree overlooking the edge of a cliff. The sunrises and sunsets were beautiful here. Sulpicia and Aro would spend such nights just talking about meaningless things, basking in each others presence. It was grand to feel so loved and adored by the vampire. 

Not realizing that she had ventured too close to the edge of the cliff, Sulpicia lost her footing along the loose dirt and grass. Her ankle twisted and her knees gave out before she fell. The air around her blew her hair upwards and it felt cool across her back. It felt like Aro's touch again, but the feeling of falling brought her mind to the present. Screaming, the sandy blonde human reached out for someone to help her, anyone to come and grasp her hand. 

"SULPICIA!!" 

She heard her name being called out as she saw a figure jumping off of the cliff after her. The form of such a person was like a godsend to her. The wind whirling in her ears, she could scarcely hear the person calling to her, but the voice was familiar to her. Could it be that Aro had returned to her once again? The man shifted his form into that of a diving one. The subtle movement made him faster and Aro reached his pale, cold hand for his wife's warm one. 

The ground came up to meet them before the pads of their fingers touched. Sulpicia felt the harsh pain of the rocks below and screamed out in pain. Her shrill voice echoed through Aro's ears like nothing he had ever heard before. He dropped to the ground not far from where the blonde landed and ran to her. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked down at his broken mate. Her limbs had been misshaped from the landing, and blood was coming from a gash behind her head. 

Aro fell to his knees and brought his mate to him. 

"I'm here darling. I'm home." Large angry red tears fell as he spoke. 

Sulpicia wanted to move and place a soft hand on her husbands cheek, but it was to no avail. Her strength was leaving her. 

Without hesitation, Aro lunged down and bit into the her clavicle bone and transferred his venom into her bloodstream. The bite was a far cry from the pain that she felt from her landing and almost welcomed the action. She closed her eyes and waited for what came next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the Romanian Coven predates the Volturi, but this little AU is mainly for the sake of the story. What happens in the next chapter may be a tad violent.


	4. Chapter 4

It wasn’t until the second occupation of the middle east where Aro finally realized Vladimir's monstrous nature. No longer was he the brilliant architect, the loving caring man he once knew. Aro didn’t want to see the change violent road his brother took. It was almost like a fog had covered his mind, his heart, and his eyes. Like a thick and scratchy wool or blanket. With each battle came a massacre of soldiers. Sure it was war, but most of the humans who fought alongside them didn’t have the look of immense happiness in their eyes as they slayed so many, neither did the Turks they were fighting against.

Most of the opposing side, Vladimir slaughtered without a second thought. He used the spear that Aro had given him as his chosen weapon. With his strength, the blonde vampire heaved the enemy solider he had stuck into the air and watched as the light left his eyes. The blood from the wound in the enemies abdomen ran down the shaft of the spear, even dripped down into the blonde's open mouth. Vladimir reveled in the chaos and destruction that went on around him. 

Aro watched with wide eyes at the monstrous acts his own brother had done. Another soldier by the name of Marcus found him during the battle and the two fought back to back. Neither of them wavered as they defended and attacked, staying always three steps ahead of the opposing side. Marcus was taller than Aro, had long wavy dark hair. He was currently covered in sweat, dirt, and grime, but he had become a cherished friend to Aro in the recent weeks. 

Marcus brought up his shield to protect himself from a blow of a Turkish curved blade. The two metals rang out as they collided. The parry gave the man a chance to return the blow and stab the other fighter in his gullet. Aro was quick to last out with his own hand-axe and almost cleaved a Turk in two. Blood spurted out from the gash in the soldiers clavicle and he fell to the ground dead. The two turned their heads to see how many more were along the battlefield. How many enemies there were, how many of their own forces survived. 

Aro sighed quietly at the carnage before him. Blood littered the sand beneath their feet, so much so that it seeped through their boots. He shook his head solemnly and wondered when this war would be over. He wanted to go home to his mother, his sister, and his wife. Sulpicia was a beacon of light in this dark and cruel world. The locket that hung around his neck was evidence of that. It shined as brightly as ever on the soot and blood covered armor. 

Marcus turned his gaze to Vladimir who was disposing of another enemy on his spear. The frantic look upon the blonde's face was enough to make his skin crawl. 

"You know, I think your brother has a problem." 

His deep voice rang true through Aro's ears. He knew that the matter needed to be addressed sooner rather than later, or Vladimir would feast on more than just the Turkish soldiers and their masters. 

It wasn’t long until a horn of retreat blew through the air, and by the sound of the language spewing from the lips of lieutenants, it was the copper skinned middle eastern men that ran for their lives. Marcus was overjoyed by the sound of running feet that drifted into the distance and cheered with his comrades. 

Many more battles ensued before the men could return home. As they marched, Aro picked at the locket necklace with his long and dirty fingernails. A smile drifted onto his face thinking about his return. Vladimir walked several paces in front of him, so the conversation between brothers would have to wait, but as he felt a bulky arm around his shoulders, Aro looked beside him and found Marcus hanging over him with a wine flask in his fist. Another, more gangly boy by the name of Caius came to his other side. All three men were happy to return home.

Talks of sisters and mothers rang happily through the air as the wine was being passed around. Caius didn’t look any older than fourteen and as he drank greedily from the flask, it was evident enough that he couldn’t hold the wine. A loud, drunk, and heavy victory song was sung and it rang through the ranks of soldiers. The only one that was silent was the blonde vampire that walked ahead of them.   
____________________

Weeks passed until Aro and Vladimir reached their home. Sulpicia ran out to her husband and hugged him around the neck. Aro lifted his mate up into the air and looked deeply into the bright gold. Didyme welcomed her brother home as well and the two shared a tight embrace. When the pleasantries were exchanged, all of the women of the household noticed the two newcomers. Didyme in particular perked up at the look of Marcus. He was so tall and handsome, it was hard to look away from him.

Marcus felt as if he had died and gone to heaven, for an angel was looking into his eyes. The bright copper reminded him of the sun. 

"Who might this enchanting woman be, Aro? You've hidden her away so expertly." 

Before the man could speak, Didyme spoke for him. 

The vampire woman introduced herself and held out her hand to shake Marcus's. If he noticed the coldness of her skin as he grasped her hand, he didn’t comment on it. The wavy haired soldier only bowed his head slightly and kissed the pale marble skin. It was like something had ignited within Didyme, something akin to a fire. Was this what Aro felt when he met Sulpicia? 

As the small group gathered and celebrated their victory, Vladimir was off in the shadows; sulking over the loss of being able to kill humans for the pleasure of it. War was something he was good at. A far cry from his days as an architect, but it made him happy to drink the deep red blood that coursed through a persons veins. Of course Lilith and the others were trying to get him to abstain from the delicious liquid, but there was no way he could stop. 

While the weak links in his chain hunted for beasts, Vladimir hunted the humans that plagued the land. Being the cause of many a war, the cause of much suffering and disease, Vladimir took to the streets. The homeless were easy prey, looking for coin, or a warm soft bed to sleep in, the blonde had promised them such amenities. It was all a lure however, for when he got them into a deep dark corner, that's when he struck. 

Fast as lightning, Vladimir would whirl around the dull human and bite hard into their necks. The blood that gushed into his mouth was intoxicating. It made him almost drunk. Of course vampires couldn’t feel the effects of alcohol, but knowing that he held the life of another in his hands was enough to send him into a frenzy of want and need. He would often drink so greedily that he would drain his prey. Dry them of their life's blood like he was wringing out a sponge. 

A scream could be heard upon the wind moments later. The entire family along with Marcus bolted up from the seats and rushed out of the cabin. The person that had shouted was off into the distance, but that was nothing to a vampire. Marcus however was the odd man out. Didyme wasn’t sure about what to do in this situation so she looked to her brother. He was the only one with a mate. 

Looking at his sister's confused state, Aro only looked to the wavy haired man he called his brother in arms and nodded once. Didyme seemed grateful and hugged her brother around the neck before trudging over to the man that had ensnared her heart only hours ago. Was this what it was like to fall in love at first sight? 

"I know." Marcus spoke.

At first the brunette female was taken aback at his response. She hadn't said a word and this man in front of her knew what she was going to say? Could he read her mind? 

"I know and I don’t care." He walked up to Didyme and touched her smooth cheek. His hand calloused and warm, the vampire leaned into his touch. Her pupils dilated and their lips came together in a kiss. 

It was light and full of promise. As she took him into her arms, Marcus let out a tiny yet deep yelp when his feet left the ground. Lilith and her other children laughed at the sound before taking off into the distance going to investigate what had happened.   
______________________

When they arrived at the scene, carnage welcomed them. None were alive except for one that stood among the charred remains of human corpses. Vladimir took in the scent of death and sighed in contentment. Aro didn’t take notice as he saw another of his friends standing over a small, burnt body. 

Caius fell to his knees onto the hard ground beneath him. His young bright eyes wide with shock, he looked around wondering what had happened. The blonde was on his way home. How could this have happened? He stared blankly ahead, then seconds ticked by and he looked down at the burnt body of his little brother. Michael was his twin in every way. Even though the child was younger than him, he looked and sounded exactly like him. His sandy blonde hair was short and ruffled most of the time. Always a mess, that little boy was. Now he was gone.

Still looking at the remains, Caius let out a giant scream. Wetness flooded his sight as he kept screaming. The sound of it was cruel and horrifying to the vampires in attendance. Aro knelt down behind him and wrapped his cold arms around the boy's waist. Caius kept screaming and screaming until there was no voice left in him. He passed out from exhaustion, a dreamless black.

The nightmares took him for weeks and he trudged by in a daze most of the time. Caius didn’t want to sleep, didn’t want to eat. There was only one thing on his mind; revenge. One day, the blonde went up to Aro and placed a hand on his shoulder. The vampire who was at the forge, hammering away at another weapon turned and looked at the tired form in front of him.

No words passed between the two men, Aro just placed the blacksmith's hammer down on the anvil, and took Caius's hand into his own. The blonde didn’t feel cold, didn’t feel hunger, didn’t feel much of anything really. Aro read his thoughts using his gift and knew the path that Caius would take next. 

"Give me my revenge and I swear to you, that I will remain your most faithful, forever." 

Aro thought it was strange how the young man was speaking to him. Almost like he was a god, but of course the ancient vampire was far from that. 

"Let me have my revenge!" Caius yelled at the vampire. 

The brunette jumped at the loudness of it in such a close proximity. It echoed like the impact of giant boulders launched from the trebuchets during the war. Golden eyes looked up once again into blue ones and he saw the shiny tear tracks that marred the sunken skin. Nodding only once, Aro stepped forward slowly, his teeth extended to a point and he quickly bit into his friend.   
_______________________________________

Death and destruction rained down upon the lowly bandit camp that butchered Caius's family. The quickness of which this was achieved almost bored Vladimir to no end. There was no challenge, no massive amounts of enemies to be killed in a matter of seconds. Just a small band of brigands that grew too big for their britches. They cried out for their mothers as their entrails spread across the dirt of their camp. One had tried to escape on his horse, but of course the vampires were faster. Funnily enough, they sparred the horse. 

Caius used his bare hands to dispose of the ones that killed his family. The ones that took them away from him. His newly turned red eyes were like shining red rubies as they gazed upon the amount of death that lay before him. He drank from the leader of the bandits and for a moment Aro, Sulpicia, and Lilith thought that he might've been lost to the bloodlust. As the limp body fell to the ground in a final thud however, Caius once again fell to the floor and onto his knees. Raising his hands and gripping his hair with strong fingers, he shook his head, just wanting everything to be done. Large red tears came down his face in mourning. Mourning the lives of his family was a sign that he wouldn’t fade away with the cruelty. 

Now it was Lilith's turn to comfort the boy. She set his hand onto his shoulder and he turned on his knees to hug her around the waist. His blonde hair plastered across her dress and the sticky red tears stained the fabric, but there was no need for worry. Lilith just stroked his hair and promised him a better life than one filled with sadness and constant pain.

There would be hardships with this lifestyle for anyone who chose it, but if they held their head high and carried on, as a family, they would achieve wonders beyond belief.


End file.
